Strut plate



5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR BY y u'a/Mfmaca ATTORN EYS April 21, 1931- c. J. W. cLAsEN STRUT PLATE Filed Dec. 1G, 1929 April 21, 1931. c. .1. W. CLASE-.N

STRUT PLATE Filed Dec. 16, 1929 3 SheebS-Sheei 2 INVENTOR VM 9' Wa ATTORNEYS C J. W. CLASEN 16, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 STRUT PLATE Filed Dec.

l VII l/yh April 21 1931.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY 5 Y cLAUs J.

Patented Apr. 21, 1931 y UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE,

STBUT PLATE Application led December 16, 1929.` Serial No. 414,337.

This invention relates to railway car underframes and more particularly to theconstruction at the joint between the center sill and body bolster.

In the construction of car underframes, only a limited space for the under-frame is available between the truck bolster and the car floor. The construction to which this invent-fon relates provides a body bolster continuous in one piece from side to side of the carV passing through a recess on the underside ofthe center 4sill with the bottom of the body bolster substantially flush with the bottom of the center sill and the center bearing projecting below thebottom of the sill.

On account of the recess in the under side ofthesill to receive thebody bolster, buing forces'o'r end shocks'due to the operation of the cars are exerted on a line well below the neutral airis of that portion of thesill over the bolster recess and` in manyinstances are on aline passing directly through this recess. These buiiing forces set up bending stressesin the portion of the sill over the recess which after repeated bufng shocks will distortthesill due to the fact Vthat foundry tolerances will not permit a tight ht of the body bolster in the recess.

-The present invention has for its obj ect to provide an elongated centrally widened strut plate which is rigidly connected to the under side of sill fore and Vaft of the recess andalso to the under side of the body bolster, and is of sufficient strength to materially lower the neutral aXis of the sill', of which it becomes a part, so that it will effectively resist the bending strains, and in addition, will assist the sill to carry the vertically applied loads imposed upon it by the freight contained in the body of the car.

y A further object is to provide a strut plate which not only strengthensthe recessed portionof the center sill but which also reinforces the draft extension of the center sill between the. body bolster and draft gear pocket.

` A further object is to provide a reinforcing strut plate which serves to strengthen the recessed "portion of the sill and which also serves as a center plate providing an annularV bearing or seat between the truck bolster and the underframe of the car.

lVith the above and other objects in view, the invention may be said to comprise the structure as illustrated in the accompanying drawings hereinafter described and particularly setforth in the appended claims, together with such variations and modiications thereof as will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention appertains.

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which t Figure l is a fragmentary plan view showing a portion of the steel underframe of a railway car. Y

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line indicated at 2-2 in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line indicated at 3-3 in Fig. l.

Fig. 4. is a section taken on the line indi-` cated at 4-1 in Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line indicated at 5--5 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the strut plate.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view showinga slightly modified construction.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the strut plate shown in Fig.

The car underframe comprises a center sill which may be of the single'ordouble type being herein shown for purpose of illustration as an I-beam, and side sills 2 which are connected by body bolsters 3 and'tie beams 4, Fig. l showing one' end only of the underframe.

At each end, the center sill is provided with extensions 5 which may be formed separately from the body portion of the sill, in which case they are rigidly attached to the sill. The extensions 5 are spaced apart at their outer ends to provide spaced draft arms which accommodate a draft gear between them, the draft gear including the usual coupling member 7.

As herein shown, the extensions are formed separately from the body of the sill and are provided with channel shaped arms 8 at their inner ends which fit in the channels upon the opposite sides of the body portion of the cen- WERNER; CLASEN, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO THE BETTENDORF f COMPANY, OF BETTENDO'RF, IOWA, A CORPORATION OF IOWA ter sill, the llanges and webs of the channels being rigidly secured to the flanges vand webs of the body portion ofthe sill. The extensions when formed Aseparately from the body of the sill are attached to the ends of the body portion'of the sill immediately to the inner side of the body bolster and are pro videdwith recesses 9 on the under sides there- Y of of a width and depth to receive the body bolster's 3 with .the bottomsof the vbody bolsters substantially flush with the bottoms of the extensions 5.

The extensions 5 are preferably in the form of castings with integral webs'` 10 and 11 lacross the sides and tops of the bolster recesses for engagement with the sides and tops f well as a sill reinforcing member.

of the bolsters. A strut plate 12 is rigidly secured to the bottoms of theextensions 5 and to thebody, portion of the sill at' each end thereof and these strut plates extend across the open'lowerend of the bolster recesses 9.

The strut platemay be formed to serve as a bearing member between the truck bolster and car vu'nderframe and when so formed, serves the purpose vof the usual centerplate as As shown in Figs. 1 to 6, each strut plate rests upon a 3 truck bolster 13 and has a central annular depressed bearing portion 14: which rests in an annular. bearing recessonthe top face of the truck bolster formed by an outer'annular rib 15 `and an inner annular bossl 16 concentric with the rib 15. The truck bolsteris provided .with avcenter pin aperture 17 within the annular boss 16 and the strut plate is provided with a central yraised portion 18 forming a recess on the under side thereof toreceive the boss 16 of thek truck bolster, the raised portion 18 Vbeingprovided with an aperture 20,which registers with the aperture 17 in thef truck bolster. The annular depressed bearing portion le of the strut plate provides anannularchannel in-the top face v of the plate and this channel is reinforced by 'the ribs 22.`

ribs22 and 23, the ribs 22 extending radially across the channel andthe ribs 23 reinforcing the outer portionV of the channel between I The height 23 isless than the depth ofthe channel. and the centralraised portion 1,8 fits in a recess in v the bottom of the body bolster, thevbody bolbolster, the strut plate has an outwardly iiaring raised portion which is rigidly secured of the reinforcing ribs es and;

to thennderside of the extensions 5 and extends outwardly from the bolster recess to the draft gear pocket between the arms 6, theV strut plate being provided with a central recess 28 at the end thereof to provide space to accommodate adraft yoke mounted between the arms 6. The strut plate also has lateral-r ly extending raised portions 29 extending from opposite sides of the central bearing portion which are rigidly .secured tothe bottom of the body bolster 3.. vThe raised portions 26, 27 and 29 of the strut plate are connected by integral webs 30 and the side edges of the platetaper from the ends of the central lateral extensions 29 to the opposite ends of the plate, the side edges beingpreferably stiffened by short depending flanges 51.r

. The strut plate 12 is preferably a casting and by reason of its elongated longitudinal channels and short transverse channels connected by the side webs and flanges provides very strong and rigid reinforce- VmentY for they recessed portion of the.V sill.

rlhe strut plate receives'compression stresses due both to the superposed load on the .extension of the sill and also due tothe bufling forces exerted upon the ends of the sill'. Since the strength of the strut plate Ais sufficient to compensate for the weakening of the sill by the transverserecess 9, the neutral axis of the sill will be materially lowered so that it extends *through the bolster recess and bufling stresses will be exertedsubstantially alongthe neutral axis, so that, the portion of the sill immediately above the bolster re-` cesses will be relieved of substantially all bending stresses andthe sill extensions ,will not be distorted by .bufiing forces.'l

In Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawing,'there is shown a 'modification of the invention in which a strut plate 34 of a slightly different construction is employed.; In this instance, the strut plate is formed independently of the center plate and is provided with a central aperture 36 which is of a diameter suflicient to receive a center plate or other bearing member interposed between the truck and body holsters.

rllhe strut plate Sil'is centrally widened to engage t-he body bolster on opposite sides 1i" of thesill and is provided at its. inner end with an elongated raised portion 87 which extends along against the bottom of the body portion of the sill and is rigidly secured thereto by riveting or other suitable means.

. rllhe opposite end of the strut plate .34 is provided with a wider raised portion 38 which is rigidly secured to thefbottom of the sill extensions and to the bottoms ofthe laterally spaced outer portions thereof, Vthe latter end of the plate beingprovided with the central recess l39 to accommodate the draft yoke. In both modifications abovedescribed, the` strut plate extends a considerable distance along the bottom of the sill and the extensions on opposite sides of the body bolster and along the bottom of the body bolster on opposite sides of the sill, being rigidly secured to both the sill and body bolster.

In both modifications, the strut plate is so constructed that it does not interfere with the pivotal connection between the truck and body holsters and so that the height of the draft gear and car floor is not increased.

It will be apparent that the present invention provides a very simple and economical construction at the joint between the center sill and body bolster which provides the necessary strength in the center sill to prevent distortion under buflng stresses without necessitating any departure from standard dimensions in the under frame members.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the particular form of apparatus shown and described, and the particular procedure set forth, are presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and that various modifications of said apparatus and procedure can be made without departing from my invention as defined in the appended claims.

Vhat I claim is:

' l. In a car underframe, a body bolster, a center sill having a recess on the under side thereof of a width anddepth to receive the body bolster, and a strut plate extending longitudinally of the sill beneath the recess, said plate being connected to the body bolster on opposite sides of the sill and having elongated channeled end portions having top faces rigidly attached to the under side of the sill inwardly and outwardly of the recess.

2. In a car underframe, a body bolster, a center sill having a recess on the under side thereof of a width and depth to receive the body bolster, and an elongated strut plate extending a substantial Vdistance along the bottom of the sill inwardly and outwardly of the recess and rigidly attached to the bottom of the sill on opposite sides of the recess, said strut plate having a widened center portion of greater widththan the sill and attached to the body bolster, said strut plate having side portions converging from the center portion toward the ends thereof and offset downwardly with respect to the portions of the plate attached to the sill.k

3. In a car underframe, a body bolster, a center sill having a recess on the under side thereof of a width and depth to receive the body bolster, and a strut plate having channeled end portions extending along the bottom of the sill inwardly and outwardly of the recess and rigidly attached to the sill, said strut plate having a widened central portion and reinforcing webs outwardly of the channeled portions which taper from the central portion toward the ends of the strut plate, whereby the strut plate forms a compression member across the bottom of said recess which has sufficient strength to lower the neutral axis of the sill to approximately the line of action of the buliing stresses.

4. In a car underframe, a body bolster, a center sill having a body portion and an ex tension rigidly attached to the end of the body portion, said extension having a recess on the under side of a depth corresponding substantially to the height of the central portion of the body bolster and of a width to receive the body bolster, and an elongated strut plate having a wide central portion projecting to opposite sides of the sill, said strut plate having channeled portions eX- tending substantially equal distances along the bottom of the sill inwardly and outwardly of the recess, the top faces of which are rigidly attached to the sill.

5. In a car underframe, a body bolster,

a center sill having a body portion and extension members rigidly attached to the end of the body portion and having outer end portions spaced apart to provide draft arms, said extension members having webs and recesses on their under sides terminating short of the tops of the webs, said recesses being of a depth corresponding substantially to the height of the central portion of the body bolster and of a width to receive the body bolster, and an elongated strut plate, rigidly attached to the body portion of the sill and the extension members inwardly and outwardly of said recess, said strut plate being attached at its outer end to said draft arms and having a recess in its outer end to accommodate the draft yoke, the center portion of the plate engaging` the bodv bolster on opposite sides of the sill.

6. In a car underframe, a body bolster, a center sill having a body portion and an extension rigidly attached to an end of the body portion, said extension having a recess on the under side of a depth corresponding substantially to the height of the central portion of the body bolster and of a width to receive the body bolster, and a strut plate having elongated channeled end portions rigidly attached to the bottom of the body portion and extension of the center sill and channeled side portions engaging the body bolster on opposite sides of the sill, said strut plate having webs at the sides thereof connecting said channeled portions.

7. In a car underframe, a body bolster, a center sill having a body portion and extension members having their inner ends rigidly secured to the opposite sides of the sill and the outer ends of said members being spaced apart to provide draft arms, said extension members having recesses on the under side thereof intermediate the ends thereof of a width and depth to receive the body bolster, and an elongated centrally` widened strut plate extending across the recess and having elongated channeled portions rigidly secured to the extensionmembersand sill body outwa rdly and inwardly of the recess, said plate having laterallyl extendingchanneled porrtions secured to the body bolster on opposite sides of the sill and webs connecting the said channeled portions. v

- 8. In a car underframe', a body bolster, a center sill having. a body portion and eXten- I sionmembers having their inner endsv rigidlyl '10i secured to the opposite sides of the',sill, said members being spaced at their outer ends to provide draft-arms, said extension members having recesses on the under sides thereof inwardlyof the 4drai't'arms of a width anl is' depth to receive the body bolster, and an elongated centrally widened strut plate eX- tending across the recess and having elongated channeled portions the top facesv of which. are rigidly secured to the bottoms of 'a0 the extension members and sill body outwardly and inwardly of the recess, said plate having laterally extending channeled portions, the top faces of which are secured to the body bolster on opposite sides of the sill and bracing webs on opposite sides thereof connecting the said channeledl portions, said webs beingbelow the level of said top faces. n "9. In a car underframe, a body bolster, a center sill having aneXtension which is pro-A vided with a recess of a width and depth to receive the body bolster, a truck bolster having a centralupwardlyy projecting boss and an annular rib concentric with the boss and VJforming therewith an annular' bearing groove, an elongated strut plate extending longitudinally of the sill across said recess and secured to the bottornof the sill and bottom of the body bolster, said sill, body bolster vand boss having center pin apertures `4.0 and said strut plate having afcenter pinl aperture substantially midway between its ends and registering withtheboss, bolster and sill apertures,said plateA having an annular bearing portion fitting in said annular groove of the truck bolster. j

f 'In testimony whereof I aiX my signature.

CLAUS lJ. WERNER oLAsnN. l 

